When we moved to our current residence, there was an elderly lady who would always walk by our house. She usually wore an outfit consisting of all one color, usually a bright color. At first we would say hi to each other, then the “hi” transformed into longer and longer conversations. Pretty soon, she became part of our lives. She made a point to make birthday cakes for all of our birthdays and bring us homemade peanut butter fudge. Our kids loved to hear stories of her life.
One day we went with her to a production at one of the schools around here. In the parking lot, I joked with her saying, “I’ll race you.” To my surprise, she said, “okay!” and she took off. So I let this 85 year old lady win of course. My wife was horrified. We still joke about this.
One day, I decided to record a video interview with her. I wanted to capture her stories before her history was lost. I especially wanted to hear her side of history, both globally and locally here in Camas Washington. She talks about living through world war II and growing up here. She’s so cool!